Ariel Pax
by MajesticBurn
Summary: Armada Optimus' daughter disobayes him and joins the war, but immediately gets hurt, wile in medbay she reveals a few dark secrets to RedAlert, how does she know Sideways? Set shortly after Jetfire joined Revised
1. Overprotected

Yes! I finally finished chapter 1 of my first Armada story! Actually, I finished it a few weeks ago, but was going to make the chapter longer, but decided this was a good place to stop. If you like it, great! If not, screw you. And you'll never guess who she falls for! Note: she will not fall for anyone for a few chapters. review if you want, if not, all well.-REVISED!

Ariel Pax

Overprotected

RedAlert sat in the control room, the kids had gone home for the night, and most of the other Autobots had gone to bed. Suddenly a communication came in from Cybertron. Naturally, he answered the call. A pink femme with a commanding look to her appeared on-screen.

At seeing her, he smiled respectfully, "Elita-1, good to see you, I'll get Prime for you-"

"I don't wish to speak with him just yet. I need your help RedAlert."

For a moment he was dumb struck but regained his composure, "W-what do you need help with?"

"Well, you know how Optimus and my older sparkling… how she has always resented not being allowed to fight?"

"Yes. I never met her but by what has been said… go on."

"Well, she left Cybertron…"

"WHAT!" Came a bellow behind RedAlert. Optimus stormed in the room, "She just left! Why didn't you watch her more closely Elita!"

"Like it or not she's fully developed now Optimus! If she wants to be a warrior, then let her be one. It's likely she'll go to earth, and I want you to give her your trust and let her make her own decisions! She wouldn't have run off in the first place if you'd let he have more freedom!"

RedAlert sank away from the control room, not willing to get farther involved. He had noticed back on Cybertron that when the subject of their sparklings, especially Ariel Pax, came up, they were both stubborn hotheads. Each always wanted their own way about her. He would never admit it, but he agreed with Elita, he was far too harsh and overprotective of her. He had lied to Elita, he had met her once at the transformers training academy, she'd been pre-dual-freshmen (the American equivalent of a fifth grader) at the time, and he a senior. They had met in the library, he found her rebellious behavior unnerving; she did all she could to try to get suspended, but because her father was the Autobot leader, she never did. And she obviously hated it. He wondered if she hated herself as well.

He ignored the bellows from the other room, he wondered what would happen if Optimus let her be a warrior and come to earth; but by this point she would arrive in due time anyway. He let out an annoyed sigh and mentally counted the private quarters and the bots in them; Hotshot, Smokescreen, Scavenger, Jetfire, Blurr, Optimus, Himself, and three rooms for the minicons… and only eleven rooms came to mind. He sighed again; at least if she does come here, she'll have her own room… we need to expand the base anyway, he thought bitterly.

--

RedAlert glanced around the room, the only team member not in the room was Optimus, and for good reason. He was trying to think of how to tell everyone what was going on, "Common! Spill it already!" Hotshot snapped, his impatience growing.

"Cool your carburetor Hotshot. Now… well… we may be having a new arrival soon…" He turned to Hotshot who'd been about to interrupt, "Keep your snide remarks to yourself. She's Optimus' creation. And let's just say Prime isn't pleased about it."

"How do Autobots create 'children' Red?" Rad asked.

A few Autobots made uneasy glances around the room, RedAlert cleared his throat, "The Autobot ether builds a new robot and is then considered its parent, or the scamatics of a mech and a femme are combined to form a new robot." He bit his lip component; he _really_ didn't want to get into detail.

"Oh… okay…"

"Anyway, I suggest not making any mention of this to Optimus. He looked extremely angry last night when Eleta-1 told him." Suddenly the Mini-con alert sounded, "Oh joy, _more_ bad news."

--

When Optimus, Hotshot, Blurr, Scavenger and Jetfire arrived in their destination (a canyon) they began to search for the Mini-con (duh). Remarkably, there was no sign of the Decepticons. They regrouped after about 20-minutes of searching. Then they searched together.

They turned a corner of the canyon and froze. An average sized femme with a pink midsection of armor, purple shoulder thrusts, red upper arms and legs, blue down to her wrists, and white around her knees was freeing a Mini-con. It was a small neon yellow-and-green female when it arose from the mini-con-plate.

When she turned and saw Optimus, it was as though her systems had crashed and she appeared incapable of movement. She gave an uneasy smile, "He-hello Prime. Hi Uncle Scavenger!"

"For the last time, I'm not your uncle!"

"Hi Jetsam! Run into any buildings since you left Cybertron?"

Jetfire clenched his 'teeth', "Stop calling me Debris! I am not a wreckage; for Primus' sake!"

She stuck out her oral probe, "What_ever_."

Her Mini-con made those static-y sounds and she looked at her blankly, Optimus chuckled, "She said her name is Spit-fire."

"That's nice." She didn't seem very enthusiastic.

Suddenly, the Decepticons attacked. The battle was short, but unnerving. Sideways had cornered Ariel and smiled evilly, "Hello Ariel Pax. Long time no see. Last time I saw you, you were-"

"Shut-up!" She shouted as she shot at him, to no avail, and he countered by stabbing her through her abdomen with a spear-like weapon, twisting it in then yanking it out, in the process badly damaging some of her vital systems, then he left to fight other Autobots; leaving her to leak to death.

Once the battle was over, Optimus knelt at Ariel's side, "Are you alright?"

"Optimus?" she whispered, fear burning in her bright orange optics, "I'm scared."

"I know; I'm sure RedAlert will be able to fix you." He picked her up gently and carried her home.

To be continued...


	2. Everyone Hides something

Ariel Pax

Everyone hides something

Ariel began to fidget, much to the enragement of the already annoyed RedAlert, "Will you hold still? I'm _trying_ to fix your injuries!"

"What's the point?" She asked sorrowfully, "When you're done Optimus' just going to slag me anyway…" She fidgeted again, she had never had a mech fix her before, and it was a bit nerve-wracking.

Red shook his head, "Optimus wouldn't hurt you. He is merely concerned for your safety."

"Maybe…"

"Oh, and I re-calibrated your vehicle mode to an earth vehicle."

"Thanks."

RedAlert was puzzled at some of the scars he found on her head and back, they showed signs of a near-death injury somehow recovering on its own, and they looked as if to have happened when she was extremely young. Another scar on her shoulder was obviously cut into her, spelling the letters DACAW, he had no idea what that meant, but thought it best not to say anything.

The door was slightly ajar and they could here the kids' pestering the others, "When do we get to meet her? Is she going to be alright? Is she fatally injured?"

Red chuckled; he knew the kids would worry pointlessly about someone they hadn't even met yet, "Those are our human friends, they're just kids, but they've helped us a lot."

"They sound nice enough… but if they're willing to hang out with you people there must be something wrong with them…"

It took RedAlert a moment to realize she was joking, "Good to see that nearly dying didn't kill your sense of humor."

She smiled a sweet, innocent little smile, "Thanks."

A gentle tap was heard at the door, without looking at Ariel, Optimus muttered, "How's she doing RedAlert?"

Out of the corner of his optic, Red could've sworn her saw Ariel stick out her oral probe, but he dismissed it, "She's going to be fine Prime, once she's fixed she's going to be a little stiff but…"

"May I have a privet word with her Red?"

"Uh… yes sir, but Optimus?" He lowered his voice, "Go easy on her."

As soon as Red was out of the room Optimus let out an exasperated sigh, Ariel was positive he was going to lecture her. But she received a pleasant surprise; he chuckled. He then turned to her, smiling beneath his mask, "Elita and I had always hoped you wouldn't have my ambitious and somewhat rebellious behavior."

She gave him a look of pure bafflement, and then timidly whispered, "_You_ had a wild side when you were younger? I find that hard to believe Optimus."

"Well I was. Within my first month of combat I wound up in med-bay 12 times. Elita was the one who knocked some sense into me, quiet literally as a mater of fact."

Ariel giggled, "Yeah, I can see her smacking you upside the head for pure stupidity."

They both laughed at the truthful analogy, but then he whispered, "Once you're better, you will train for a _minimum _of five earth-weeks to check your reflexes, and if all goes well…"

"Are you saying what I _think_ you're saying?"

"Yes, you may join the fights, _if_ you prove you can handle it."

"Thank-you so much Optimus!"

He chuckled, "No one's around you know."

"Thanks Demority." She tried to get up to hug him, but received a jolt of pain from her abdomen that stopped her.Demority- sort of like calling a male creator Daddy

Optimus bent down to her and gave her a light hug, then said, "Take it easy for a wile sweetie, you might hurt yourself."

"I know…"

-Many days later-

Ariel Pax sat perfectly still; RedAlert was making sure all her systems were well enough to begin training. She was getting use to him being her doctor, and was beginning to talk with him about simple things, like how stupid their school mascot was, and how it was amazing that any of the sports teams ever won a game.

Suddenly, she asked him, "Hey Reddy?" in her now trademark chipper and teasing voice, "Do ya think it'd be okay if ya taught me a few simple medical things just in case of an emergency?"

He stared at her for a moment unsure of what she was trying to do, then said, "I suppose I could… but only if you promise not to _use_ any of what I teach you except for in dire circumstances."

"Cross my spark, and if I lie, it will go out."

"Are your fingers crossed too? I remember that from school."

"Honest to Primus! Why don't you believe me?" her optics welled and her face held a pout.

He knew she was faking to make him say okay, so he gave her a frown, "I was going to say yes, but now that you're pouting like a sparkling, maybe you're far too _immature_ for this…"

Her face immediately returned to normal, "Gee, thanks for bursting my bubble, I thought I had you fooled!"

He gave a real frown this time, "Ariel, what's the DACAW?"

"The-the what?"

"Don't play dumb, I saw it engraved on your arm, what is it?"

"Something I joined when I was younger, much younger."

"What does it stand for?"

"D-Decepticon and Autobot Children Against War…" her face was red, and her optics darkened.

For a long wile, he was silent then said, "Well I bet there weren't too many Decepticons in the group."

"Actually Red, there were more Decepticons."

"Wha? Well then… why'd you join?"

"Because I thought it was a good organization, an underground one, but a good one." She began to frown, "But some of us became suspicious of the organizer, and some Autobots and Decepticons searched the data bases for his records and found that he was listed in both, when he claimed to be a Neutral all his life. And in all references he was listed as a traitor… by _both_ sides."

"What?"

"All we really know is that his name was…" She fell silent.

"Ariel? Are you alright?"

"Yes… well he was… he was Sideways."

"What!"

"Yeah, I know Reddy."

--

After talking with Red alert for about half an hour, he showed her a few simple medical tricks, then let her go, "Thanks Reddy! See ya later!" She playfully ran out of med-bay and down the hall toward the control room. Halfway there, she ran into HotShot, quite literally as a matter of fact, "Hi-ya Hots! Sorry!"

"Sup Aerie? What's the rush?"

"Red said I'm back in tip-top shape! So that means I can start training soon!" she couldn't suppress her glee.

"Cool, ya gonna go tell Optimus?"

She nodded vigorously, "Yep!"

He mockingly saluted her, "I wish you the best of luck on this mission and hope you return in one piece and alive."

"Shut-up Sir Dorksalot." She teased, gently punching his arm.

"Hey…"

The two parted ways and she finally reached the control room. Optimus had been waiting for her for about two hours, and had begun to become concerned; so the moment she entered, he, in a calm voice, muttered, "What took you?"

"Well, after Red checked my systems, he and I talked for a bit, and then I convinced him to teach me a few med-stuff. No big… right?"

"Yes sweetie, and?"

"I'm back in tip-top shape! And you promised so don't think-"

"Alright Ariel; but it's late, so you'll start in the morning."

"Yes!" she headed for the door, "Thank you Primus!" she teased, in a way saying that she had celestial help convincing him.

"Just go." Optimus muttered, waving one hand and covering his optics with the other.

She gladly bolted from the room, beginning to carelessly spin in circles in the hall. For a brief moment she lost balance and began to fall backwards. Her arms almost hugging her chest, and one leg outstretched, she was sure she was going to hit the ground, but she bumped into someone behind her instead.

She hesitantly looked up, to see a rather unhappy Blurr glairing down at her, "Hi Blurr-err, what's up?"

"Will you get off me you stupid-little-?"

"I- wouldn't do that Blurr." Jetfire warned, approaching them.

"What's she gonna do, she's just a stupid little femme-warrior wanna be who couldn't kill a Decepticon if he was already moments from death."

Ariel leapt away from him and, quite gracefully, tripped him, "You realize Blurr that I have _impeccable_ balance… when I pay attention…"

"Ha-ha, nice one Ariel, gimmie a _hug_!" Jetfire insisted.

"Oh _fine _Jets." She gave him a hug then continued down the hall.

She stopped herself from nearly smacking into Smokescreen and HotShot again, "Hey Guys! Smokes, Hots, Prime said yes!"

"Way to go, so when do you start training?"

"Tomorrow morning, Smoky!"

"Grr… don't call me that!" Smokescreen growled.

"Neat-o. Hey, by the way Ariel… Scavenger wanted to talk with you." HotShot said wile yawning, whether he was actually tired or he was mocking Scavenger was hard to tell.

"Cool, see you guys latter then."

--

RedAlert began walking toward his quarters; he was tiered, and a bit frazzled. He saw Scavenger sitting patiently outside the hall to the quarters, "Hello Scavenger, what's going on?"

"I'm waiting for Ariel, figure I might wanna give her one last chance to back off and quit. She is really like a niece to me Red, and I want her to be safe."

"I don't think she's going to back down, but I do think that she's willing to listen to advice, and try to be safe in battle."

"Make no mistake Red; I'm going to do that too but…"

"You just want her to be safe; I know. She's already become a good friend of mine, and I don't want to have to fix the poor girl again."

"Girl? She's not _that_ much younger than you Red. Only about… seven Cybertronian years or so…"

"True, but she still has the body of an upperclassman in _school_. She hasn't had her body upgraded and somehow avoided natural advancement."

"But she is actually much older."

"Heck, she looks like she's the same age as HotShot, and he's well… he was a first year when she was a senior. (Yawn) Well, good-night Scavenger." (First year translates to kindergartener)

Scavenger chuckled, "Good-night RedAlert."

-The next morning-Outside Autobot headquarters-

Ariel Pax, RedAlert, Scavenger, and Optimus Prime were preparing for her first training exercise; Rad, Carlos, Alexis, Fred, Billy and Spit-fire were watching the scene from a safe distance. Spit-fire was with the kids because Ariel would not be learning how to use a Minicon any time soon.

"Ready Ariel?" Scavenger asked.

"Yep!"

She began to move, when a shot from a nearby hillside hit just an inch away from her feet. A bright yellow Autobot (they could tell by his symbol) with blue edges jumped from the spot and landed a good 25 meters from her, "Hey Air-head, now what do you think you're doing'?"

Her face turned bitter and hate-filled, "Lightning." She hissed.

To be continued…


	3. Lightning

Ariel Pax

Lightning

The Mech grinned placidly, "Aw… Common Air-head… don't be hatin'."

"Uhl, how grotesque. You sound like an upperclassmen teacher trying to be 'cool'." Ariel glowered over to him; he had some nerve showing his face near her again.

"Oh please, ya know ya love me." He teased.

"Not after what _you_ did." She muttered in disgust.

"Huh?" the mech's face reflected total bewilderment, "What'd I do?"

"Aren't you still a member of dacaw?"

"No! I quit three and a half million years ago."

"Wasn't that when it disbanded?" She said dryly.

"No! It was two years before it disbanded."

"Lightning…"

"Oh chill little miss teacher."

"That's _it_! You are sooooooo scrap!"

"Ariel, wait!" RedAlert pulled her arms back using his elbows, "A; if you tear him to shreds; _I_ have to put him back together. B; if you attack a fellow Autobot… Optimus'll _never_ let you be a warrior."

She immediately ceased struggling, glancing back at RedAlert, muttering, "I hate it when you're right. Okay, I won't hurt him."

Slowly, Red released his grip. She glared at him one last time before returning her attention to Lightning. He gave her a carefree smile in return, "Aw calm down Ariel. You used to trust me with everything."

"A friend of yours Ariel?" Optimus asked.

"Former, Optimus. A former friend."

"Ariel, what is or was… 'Dacaw'." Optimus further pressed, he was determined to find out what was going on.

"Um…" Fortunately for her a distraction arose

Lightning snapped his fingers like an idea had hit him, "CopyCat! That's it!" everyone looked at him with equally disoriented faces.

"Huh?" Scavenger spoke what everyone was thinking.

"Ariel, do you remember that D-dacaw named CopyCat?"

"Most annoying bot I ever met besides you. He would change his voice and appearance using illusions so you never knew if you were talking to who you thought you we-re…" She faltered, hit with the realization and trying to mentally search for any indication that who had hurt her was an imposter. She finally sighed and said, "I should've realized it was him all along… but then… how do I know it's really you? Hum?"

"Easy Air-head. In our first year of basic schooling you were my only friend, you were the only bot who'd willingly have any kind of contact with me except the teachers." A soft smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, but he continued, "When we were pre-limbotus and one of our closest friends broke my hand…" He pointed to a slightly different colored spot running across her knuckles, "You socked her, got that scar, and thought I never knew you stood up for me." He pointed to a scar on the edge of his facial armor, "And I got this our senior year when that jock called you a slut, I tried to stand up for you and-" (pre-limbotus is the same as American 8th grader)

"He broke your jaw. I remember." Her optics began to well a small bit, tears beginning to pour from her optics, "Oh Lightning, you jerk!" she hugged him tenderly, "Sorry I thought C-C was you."

"I'm sorry too. And I'm sorry for shooting at you. It was only a warning shot but…"

"Ariel…" Optimus _hated_ to interrupt this oh-so-tender moment between _Lightning_ and _his _sparkling, but he needed to learn more, and he knew that the kid's curiosity would cause them to approach soon, and he wanted to make sure this new bot was safe for them to be near, "What _is_ dacaw?"

"Um… Do I _have_ to tell you?" Optimus folded his arms, "I guess that's a yes then… Fine, well…"

"Decepticon and Autobot Citizens Against War." Lightning interrupted.

"Citizens?" Ariel whispered.

"Yeah, they changed it over five million years ago." Lightning whispered on her Audio, "It was an organization begun by enemies of all Cybertronians, no mater the type. They were recruiting Both Autobot and Decepticons in an attempt to eliminate both species. Ariel was one of the first to bot realize _and_ believe it…"

"I see…"

"Huh? Why would a Decepticon want peace?" Scavenger

"Actually, most of them just wanted to be rebellious against their families. They didn't actually want peace… most of them anyways…" Ariel muttered, thinking hard about a certain Decepticon she knew from it.

"Oh…"

--

Lightning explained that he'd only been passing through this part of the galaxy, and when he had heard that Autobots were on earth; he had decided to see why. Once back at base, they talked it over and decided that, wile he was on earth, that he would be staying with HotShot; much to the bewilderment of the younger 'bot.

"Why do _I _have to share _my_ quarters! Make Smokescreen share, not me!"

"HotShot…"

Ariel giggled quietly then slunk off to her room, "So much for my first day of training…" she growled as she closed the door behind her. She glanced around the room and saw something hanging from the wall; it was covered. She glanced down at her armor and sighed; she had to get the grains of sand off her armor before they caused it harm. She quickly took off her armor and began to clean it; putting it back on as it was done.

She finally only had her helmet to clean. Her fiber-optic purplish "hair" draping down; the clips that held it up in the helmet scattered on her recharge berth. As she was re-applying them, and putting her helmet back on, someone knocked on her door, "Gimmie a sec okay?" She finished putting her helmet on; glaring instinctively at the covered thing on the wall.

Lightning's voice was heard through the door, "Common! Open up… Ghost-girl-" before he could finish his taunt, the door flew open and she yanked him in; the door snapping shut behind them.

"You jerk! What if someone heard you!"

"They'd think it was some dumb nick-name, don't be so jumpy."

She sat down on the berth, "What do you want anyway?"

"To know what C-C did to you as me."

"He-he… well, let's just say he messed with my head."

"Huh? Wha'cha mean?"

"He… made me think he- no, you loved me… convinced me to…"

"Huh…? …Oh! You mean he made you-…"

"Yeah, then just kinda left; gone, just like that."

"Paxie I-"

"It's okay. I'm fine now. Really." He had at some point sat down beside her, and had pulled her into a comforting hug, "Thanks." She whispered.

"No prob, just remember; I'll always be your best friend; no if ands or buts."

"Right." She mumbled, nodding against his shoulder.

Just at that moment, Hotshot entered, "Hey Ariel guess-… am I interrupting something?" he said in a teasing voice.

"Not really. We were just talking about what CopyCat did to make her mad at me. What's up?" Lightning asked calmly. The two were obviously no longer hugging.

"Yeah right, well… the kid's wanted to know who all wants to go camping with them. Alexis found a nice little spot, not too far from a nice river…"

"River?" Ariel asked, slightly worried.

"Yeah, well?"

"I guess so…" she glanced at Lightning, "You coming?"

"Eh, why not?"

"Great! Now the kids have the three of us, RedAlert, and Smokescreen coming!"

"Great…"

To be continued…

Well? What'd ya'll think? Trust me; next chapter will be much more interesting… (Evil smile) And Sideways fans (the whole one of you) will love his newest evil scheme. Review, don't review… I don't care.


	4. Like Water

Ariel Pax

Like Water

RedAlert sat at his desk reading a data-pad; it was about nine in the morning, meaning HotShot was still sound in recharge. Actually, only he, Blurr, and Optimus Prime were ever up this early, making it actually a bit more peaceful.

Suddenly he heard the door open as a transformer walked in; he could always tell who it was by the sound of there footsteps, and before the 'bot could say a word he said, "Good morning Ariel." He looked up from his data-pad briefly, just long enough to affirm he was right.

He tried very hard not to smirk; last night HotShot had told everyone in base that he had walked in on her and Lightning getting rather cozy in her room: much to the dismay of Optimus.

She sat across from him at the desk, propped up her elbows, and then muttered, "Hey Red?"

He looked up from the pad, "Yes Ariel?"

She leaned over looking exasperated, "I'm bored."

He shook his head and lifted the pad, "Then go bother someone else."

"But everyone else is either in recharge or busy."

He arched his optic-ridge beneath his visor, "Don't I look busy?"

"Work-work-work! That's all you care about isn't it!"

"Trust me; I'd prefer to run off and slack at my duties like HotShot… but I work so hard because I don't want something to happen, and one of you guys be hurt in a way I can't fix without a certain piece of equipment that I could've easily made sooner."

She sat up, "I guess that's a good point… but then why'd you agree to go camping for the entire weekend?"

He gave her a strange look, "I didn't; I told him the only way he'd get me on that trip was to tie me up in energon chains and drag me."

"Yeah… but he'll probably do it. And I'll help!"

He shook his head, "Ariel, I don't mean to sound rude but… how can you act so cheerful with everyone in the middle of a war?"

She fell silent, twiddling her thumbs juvenilely. She finally muttered, "Sometimes you've just gotta suck it up and pretend not to be fazed by everything that's going on. I mean… you never know… every morning you can't help but wonder… 'Is today my last day? Am I going to survive?' …Until you realize that you just have to take thing one day at a time… wile still planning for the future. You have to be brave, but you can't get overconfident, and you can't go to far with whatever you do… because then you might as well be one of them."

RedAlert gaped at her sudden change of mood. Suddenly wishing he'd kept quiet. But she wasn't done with her strange behavior yet. She continued so quietly that he had to turn up his audio to hear her, "Sometimes I think it'd have been better if Optimus didn't have to deal with me. That I'd never been sparked."

He gaped a moment than regained composure, "Don't be ridiculous Ariel; Optimus would be miserable without you."

"It's not like he ever wanted me in the first place; I overheard him tell Elita-1 that he wished they'd waited to have sparklings until the war was over. And it doesn't seem like it'll ever be over. Not in his lifetime or mine even."

Red didn't know what to say, she did have a point, but a dreary one. He was slightly aw-struck that her attitude could change so quickly. She was like water, bubbly and care-free one second, frozen the next.

"Now Ariel, you know he loves you, he just doesn't want you to get hurt; and at the time he probably thought the war was coming to a close."

For a long wile neither of them spoke, but then she lifted her head and smiled at him, "Thanks a lot Reddy. And I am going to help Hotshot force you to take a break."

Desperate to change the subject he decided to go out on a limb, "I'm surprised Optimus hasn't had a talk with you yet."

She gave him a blank stare, "About what?"

"About what HotShot told everyone."

"What did that lying bot tell everyone?"

"That you and Lightning seemed pretty cozy in each others arms when he walked into your room to tell you about camping."

"What! We were just talking! And it was a best-friend hug!"

"I believe you." He said, looking into her optics, "But it's Optimus you ought to be trying to convince."

She sighed, "Time to go do some damage control."

He noticed something strange as she excited, even though the shortest rout to the control room was out the side door, she left through the exited that had no reflective objects adorning the walls or equipment. He shook his head once the door was closed, "Strange femme; a lot like water, except water doesn't avoid its own reflection."

To Be Continued…


	5. Exposed

Ariel Pax

Exposed

Ariel Pax sat down on her recharge berth with a cup of energon; just having finally convinced Prime that Hotshot had exaggerated. She sipped it idly, lost in her own thoughts. She laid down, stretching out a bit.

"Don't be so lax, and stop delaying your up-grade." A voice from an unseen entity snapped.

"Whatever Destiny; you know full well why I don't want to up-grade… you."

"But don't you feel the least bit guilty lying to Prime? And Elita?"

Ariel frowned, and then sat up, "Of course I do but I mean… what am I suppose to say? "Sorry I'm not really your little sparkling?" Yeah, like that'd go over well; especially with Optimus. He'd probably just think I bonked my head a few to many times."

The voice was silent for a long time; then whispered, "Not if you show _me_ to them."

"No. _I_ can't even listen to you without being repulsed. I'm not going to submit them to that kind of torture. Besides; RedAlert would just try to find a way to prove the impossibility of your existence." She took another drink of energon.

"You've taken quite a liking to him haven't you?" The voice sounded quite smug.

Ariel barely resisted spitting out the drink, "What! That's ridiculous! He's become like a… well, a brother."

"R_i_ght…" the voice sounded skeptical.

"That's it! Why did I even _try _to talk to you?" She headed for the door.

"Have fun on the trip."

"Oh; like you'll let me be alone the entire time." She mumbled before opening the door.

———

Exciting the warp-gate, Ariel couldn't help but smile at the lush-looking place. She glanced behind her at the tied-up RedAlert; even his mouth was covered by the bars. The Kids each had a large bag with gear of all sorts on it and in it.

"Well now boys and girls, this is the spot!" Billy chirped, pulling out his wrinkled tent.

Alexis smiled, "Yep; a large amount of space hidden under a canopy of tall trees; it's perfect!" The boys all began to pull out their packed tents and set them up whereas Alexis was picking out a spot for the fire-pit.

Carlos groaned, "Uh! This is the only part about camping I hate; setting up the te-ent!" He dropped the stick he was using to hold his up and it all fell on top of him. He finally crawled out of the mess, "Alexis? Why aren't you making your tent yet?"

"Because un-like you guys; I came prepared."

"What are you a master tent-maker?" Rad joked.

"No Rad; but you're right. I ought to set up my tent." She pulled a folded-up tent out of her bag and flipped it; making it set itself up.

"Cheater!" the boys said in unison.

"What? It isn't cheating to use a pop-up tent."

"Grr…." The boys were all a little embarrassed.

"Mhm-mh-mh!" They hadn't taken the energon bars off of RedAlert yet.

"Maybe we should un-bind him now…" Ariel suggested; he looked like he was in a rather uncomfortable position.

"Hum… I don't know Ariel; I kinda like him better this way…" Hotshot chuckled.

"Muhrr…" Red growled through the bars.

"Okay, okay! We'll let'ch out… so long as you promise not to go back unless there is an _absolute_ medical emergency back at base. Alright?" Hotshot smirked; knowing Red had to give into his demand. At the slightest nod he un-did the locks, jeering triumphantly, "Ha-ha, you have to relax…"

RedAlert merely stood up, glaring angrily at the amateur warrior; dusting off his arm. Lightning couldn't help but laugh outright at the doctor-bot's expression; causing Red alert to become even more angry.

"Chill out guys…" Rad said uneasily.

"How about we all do a little swimming before we make the fire! You guys can come in too!" Carlos suggested.

"That sound's like a good idea Carlos; cool those guises circuits down, and everyone have some fun!"

"Uh…"

"What's 'a matter Ariel?" Hotshot chirped.

"Um… I don't really 'do' water; I prefer to stay away from it."

Lightning grinned, "Common… river water wouldn't come up past your knees; just because you don't know how to swim…"

"I can too swim! I just don't like to… water ruins my paint job… and…" She was clearly thinking up as many random excuses as possible to stay away from the water.

"Fine-fine; stay here like a bump then." Hotshot murmured, "Common guys, girl, and whatever Smokescreen is, let's go swimming!"

"Hum…" RedAlert was curious as per the real reason Ariel didn't want to come.

"Yo Alert, ya coming?" Hotshot pestered.

"In a moment Hotshot. Ariel? Are you alright?" He whispered to her.

"Me? Oh-uh… I-I'm fine. I just don't like water-"

"Or is it your reflection you don't like?"

"HUH!" She sounded half-panicked.

"I saw you avoid your reflection in med-bay; why? Don't you like the way you look or something?"

"No-no! It's nothing like that at all! It's just… kinda creepy to me. It's like someone's always staring at me; and I hate to be stared at."

"Oh… Alright then… I guess; but you realize you reflection cannot harm you?" He said as he began to walk away, not believing a word of her excuse.

"That's what you think." She murmured to low for his audio to pick up.

———

That night the kids were sitting around the camp-fire they made telling the bots and each other ghost stories. Some they had heard from friends or family, others they made up on the spot; usually bad ones.

Carlos was finally finishing his worst yet, "…And they never saw the evil butterfly coming… until it was _too **late**_! Muhahahahaha!"

Alexis rolled her eyes, "Oh please Carlos; I've seen kittens scarier than that!"

He flicked off the flashlight he'd been using for dramatic effect, "Well if you think you can do any better…"

"Shouldn't you kid's be thinking about getting to bed anyway?" RedAlert inquired.

"Why? It's only 11:59, and we could sleep as late as we want in the morning!" Billy plead.

"Tell that to your stomachs; I think Red's right guys. Bedtime!" Alexis announced dazedly.

"Party pooper." Rad Growled.

Ariel winced for no apparent reason and stood up, making RedAlert arch an optic-ridge, "Are you alright Ariel?"

"Uh… Yeah! Fine! I'm just gonna go for a little walk before recharge; that's all."

Lightning shook his head; he knew the real reason she was going for a walk, but knew better than to say it.

As soon as Ariel approached the water and was confident she was alone she pulled a small knife out of her subspace pocket and took off a small portion of the armor on her fore-arm. On her bare metal were multiple slash marks, all but one completely healed, and held up the knife, slashing a large cut across it.

She winced at the sight of her mech-fluid dripping down her arm, "It might hurt…" she murmured, "…But it'll keep my body from upgrading."

She reattached the armor and put the weapon away. She sat down at the edge of the water, talking into it. And Destiny talked back. She had to've been there for half an hour, when the moon was covered by a cloud and her reflection disappeared. She stood up, looking down at the empty water and, in a form of speaking, drinking in the beauty of it.

"There you are!" She turned around abruptly, Alexis walking toward her, "We were wondering where you went, we were getting worried!"

"Oh-um… no need Alexis-"

"I thought you didn't _like_ water…"

"I-I…" she tried to stay between Alexis and the water's edge.

"What are you hiding?"

She thought for a long moment, finally deciding it was time _someone_ besides Lightning was told. Sighing she asked, "Will you promise not to tell?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die-" At seeing the look on Ariel's face she said, "It's a human saying. So what's wrong Ariel?"

"Well… alright then… I-I… I'm not _really_ Ariel Pax." As if on que the moon came back out and her white reflection again showed, "…And I'd like you to meet Destiny, or… me…"

End… until next story anyway!

Muhahahahaha! Cliff hanger! Will continue in the sequel where you find out who she really is, what Sideways' plan is, who she falls for (here's a clue; it _isn't_ Lightning or Megatron) and what the reflection thing's about… Other stuff too. Till next time!


End file.
